Insurance for one-off events
Customisable insurance for promoters and organisers of one-off events. Protect your business from risk with the covers you need, and none that you don’t.
Be quote confident. We'll beat the price of any like-for-like quote. T&Cs apply.
What kind of events can we cover?
We can cover a wide range of different one-off events, with some of the most popular being:
Festivals
Music, cultural, food and literature festivals
Fêtes
Carnivals, fêtes and fun days
Corporate
Conferences, exhibitions and tradeshows
Parties
Parties, banquets, dinners and dances
Concerts
Concerts, shows and theatre productions
Sports
Triathlons, marathons and fun runs
Weddings
Weddings and birthday parties
What covers do you need for one-off events?
Start with public liability insurance (and get just that), or customise your policy to cover additional risks. Always check your quote and policy documents for full details around exclusions, terms and limits of your cover.
Public liability
Public liability insurance is a common cover for businesses that involve contact with members of the public.
Whether it's a slip on a spilled drink, a splash of oil from a deep fat fryer or a tumble from outdoor play equipment, everyday moments can sometimes lead to unexpected accidents.
Public liability insurance is designed to cover claims made against you by members of the public for property damage and accidental bodily injury, illness, disease or even death as a result of your work.
Event cancellation
Your budgeted costs or revenue could be protected if your event has to cancel for reasons beyond your control, including:
- Adverse weather
- Non-appearance of a guest
- Terrorism
- National mourning
- Communicable disease
- Civil commotion
Event equipment
This cover is designed to protect the equipment you use to put on the event against accidental damage, loss or theft, whether you own or are leasing the gear.
Typical event equipment that can be covered includes:
- Sound system or public address system
- Lighting rig
- Temporary staging
- Laptops and phones of event organisers
- Tools used to set-up an take-down the event
- Catering equipment
Employers' liability insurance
Employers' liability insurance is a legal requirement for most employers in the UK. If you have staff – whether part-time, full-time, permanent, temporary or apprentices — you may have a legal obligation to have this insurance and have an employers' liability insurance certificate to prove it. Not having it can result in a fine of up to £2,500 per day for each uninsured day.
Our employers' liability cover offers a £10 million limit as standard. It also includes 50 days’ cover for temporary employees, who do not need to be registered with us, each year.
Be quote confident
We're big on fairness. So if you find a lower price for a comparable quote, we won't just match it – we'll go one better and beat it.
So even better than apples to apples, apples to better apples. We're talking Galas to Braeburns.
As you'd expect, T&Cs apply.
Event insurance claims examples
There are different types of insurance claim that you may find yourself having to make as the organiser of an event, so, depending on the policies you've selected, here are a few examples of specific claims that would be covered by Superscript’s customisable policy:
Injured customer
When your event is in full swing, an attendee trips over some loose cabling in the dark and breaks their ankle. If they make a claim against your business, then your public liability insurance could cover the your legal and compensation costs.
Wobbly ladder
While setting up the lighting fixtures at your venue, a member of your event team falls off a wobbly ladder and injures themselves. If your staff member makes a claim against you, then employers' liability should cover your legal and compensation costs.
Stolen equipment
A opportunist thief steals an expensive piece of filming equipment from a large outdoor event you are hosting. Your event equipment insurance will cover the cost of replacing the camera, up to the limit that you choose in your customisable policy.
Unexpected cancellation
A sudden and unforecast thunderstorm leaves your outdoor event space waterlogged and your electrical systems unsafe, meaning you have to cancel your outdoor theatre show. Event cancellation insurance can cover the money lost through unrecoverable expenses.
Once you've completed a quote, you'll be able to view a summary of cover. Please always refer to your policy documents for full details around exclusions, terms and limits of your customised cover. Read our guide to understanding your policy documents.
How do insurance claims work for one-off events?
The below is a good guide to the process and timescales you can expect when you need to make a claim under your policy.
If you’re ever unsure whether you can or should claim, it’s best to get in touch and we can let you know.
Notify us of the claim
Contact us by email at claims@gosuperscript.com, by 24/7 freephone on 0800 772 3059 or by logging in to your customer portal.
Ideally this should be done as soon as possible and within 30 days of you becoming aware of anything (and we mean anything, even if it may seem trivial to you) which you think may be covered by your insurance.
A good indicator of whether or not to let us know is if there’s an issue which may require a payment to be made on your behalf.
We'll get on the case
We’ll acknowledge your claim within 24 hours, and sometimes in as little as 30 minutes! This means you’ll receive email confirmation of your Superscript claims reference and contact information should you need to speak to us.
We will then reach out to you within 48 hours to request any extra information we need to progress your claim.
We’ll keep you updated on the next steps as the claim progresses.
A decision is made
We’ll let you know if your claim is successful or not. At Superscript, if your claim isn’t covered, we will always try to point you in the right direction and support you as best we can in getting back to normal.
Read about the most common reasons claims aren't paid.
If your claim is successful, once we have all the documents we need, we will aim to settle claims such as accidental damage, theft and lost equipment within 5 working days.
One-off event insurance FAQs
How much does insurance cost for a one-off event?
This depends on the level and types of cover you choose for your business, which in turn depends on the scale of the event you're organising.
Public liability cover is considered important for events involving the public, but it's not a legal requirement. The cost of your policy will vary depending on how large a limit you require.
Do I have to get insurance for a one-off event?
Most business insurance is optional rather than mandatory. An exception to this is employers' liability cover, which is a legal requirement for anyone with employees.
Many businesses that promote events involving members of the public consider public liability insurance important, as many would be unable to afford an uninsured claim.
What does public liability insurance cover for events?
Public liability insurance is designed to cover claims made against you by members of the public for property damage and accidental bodily injury, illness, disease or even death as a result of your work.
If a customer injured themselves by tripping over some cabling in the dark, for example, public liability insurance should cover this.
Can I insure my specialist equipment?
Yes, if you have business equipment cover then your specialist gear such as sound systems, projectors and catering equipment be insured against loss or damage up to a specified limit.
Is one-off event insurance the same as special event insurance?
In short, yes. Different insurers will often use slightly different terminology to describe insurance fo one-off events.
One-off event insurance is sometimes also known as single event insurance, one-day event insurance or special event insurance but will usually encompass the same or similar covers.
Can I insure my event at short notice?
We can usually insure one-off events up to 10 days before the start date, however, we would not recommend leaving it that late because if further information is required to finalise your insurance then you may run out of time and your policy could be declined.
Anything else I should know about this cover?
There are always situations that business insurance cannot cover. Once you've completed a quote, you'll be able to view a summary of cover. Please always refer to your policy documents for full details around exclusions, terms and limits of your customised cover. Read our guide to understanding your policy documents.
Individual cover purchased online is offered on a standardised, non-advised basis and is not bespoke. Terms, conditions and coverage limits are predetermined by the Underwriter. If you require bespoke coverage offered on an advised basis, please contact our in-house broking team.
Authorised by the FCA
The FCA supervises UK financial services firms to protect consumers. We are directly authorised and regulated by the FCA and our Firm Reference Number is 656459. These details can be confirmed on the Financial Services Register at www.fca.org.uk or by calling the FCA on 0845 606 1234.
A-rated financial strength
Our insurance products are underwritten by Standard & Poor’s A-rated financial strength or higher. This means the underwriter has been independently assessed by the world’s leading credit rating provider and found to have a strong capacity to meet financial commitments (pay claims).
Protected by the FSCS
If you are a business with an annual turnover under £1m, charity with an annual income under £1m, or trust with net assets under £1m, then you will be entitled to compensation from the FSCS in the unlikely event we cannot meet our obligations. Full details and further information on the scheme are available at www.fscs.org.uk.